pinfeathern.
/ˈpɪnˌfɛðə/, U.S. /ˈpɪnˌfɛðər/ An immature feather on a bird, before the vanes have expanded and while the shaft is still full of fluid. Cf. pen-feather n. 2.
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the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > ungrown feather
pinfeather?1680
pen1810
stob-feather1825
stub-feather1847
pen-feather1849
?1680 T. Jordan Muses Melody sig. [][]5v Thou fear'it in vain; I would not..Add one pin feather to thy Magpies nest.
1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Pinfeather, a feather just as it begins to shoot.
1839 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. V. 520 The largest [of the young cuckoos], covered with pin-feathers, would have been able to leave the nest in about a week.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xviii. 298 Shelling peas, peeling potatoes, picking pin-feathers out of fowls.
1879 J. Burroughs Locusts & Wild Honey 47 When nearly grown they [sc. cuckoos] are covered with long blue pin-feathers.., without a bit of plumage on them.
1901 Longman's Mag. May 21 The young birds were in the early pinfeather stage.
1955 F. G. Ashbrook Butchering xi. 159 After plucking has been completed, pinfeathers may be removed.
1990 Metrop. Home (London) Dec. 33/5 The pinfeathers of the gamey-tasting Black Norfolks left the breasts speckled with black pinpricks.
Derivatives
ˈpinˌfeathery adj. covered with pinfeathers; containing many pinfeathers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > feather > [adjective] > having down > of unfledged bird
pen-feathered1598
pinfeathery1874
1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting xxii. 231 Skins of birds killed in spring are more valuable than those of fall birds, which are usually ‘pin-feathery’.
1984 B. Heinrich In Patch of Fireweed i. 19 He was all mouth on a scrawny neck, attached to a pink, pinfeathery pot-bellied digestive machine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : pin-featherv.
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n.?1680see also